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William “Bill” Thomas Rains, 81, the husband of the late Rev. Barbara Ann Rains, died Sept. 6, 2012, peacefully in his sleep.  

He was born March 3, 1931, in Parsons, Tenn. He and his brother Bob were orphaned as children and were raised by their sisters, Cora Mae and Jo, in Nashville, Tenn.

He served in the Air Force during the Korean War. After discharge he entered the University of Maryland, where he met his first wife Ann.

After her death, he married Barbara Murray Mayo, a divorcee with two children, in 1976. She was a four-time cancer survivor, on Federal Government disability leave. She entered seminary full time in 1978 and received her Elder’s Orders in 1982.

She served at St. George’s Island UMC from 1980 to 1983, when she was appointed to Faith UMC in Accoceek; she had just been reappointed when she died in July 1984.

He later married Eileen who also preceded him in death.

Rains loved telling stories, especially about the three women he married and outlived. He lived his last years alongside his beloved companion Helen. In his final days, he ate Ledo's pizza, kept up with the Redskins and Terrapins, and was surrounded by his children.

Survivors include two daughters, Catherine Holmes and Wendy Rains, three stepchildren David Mayo, Barbara Hall and Dorothy Carter, and two grandchildren.

He was cremated and his ashes “scattered as far away from the Capital Beltway as possible,” according to his wishes.